Chicken with Curried Fruit

Even when I was single, I loved to cook.  I did my share of takeout and restaurant dining, but mainly for things that I can't claim to cook well like Chinese and Indian food.  Otherwise, I always felt like there was no reason to eat well, even if I were dining alone that particular evening.  So I remember that I was really excited when I found a copy of The 15-Minute Single Gourmet cookbook by Paulette Mitchell for about 50 cents at the local thrift store.  Perhaps its previous owner got married and decided the cookbook was no longer necessary, but I decided to hang onto it.  Not because I plan to be single again someday, but because a good recipe idea can be changed to accomodate different tastes, different needs, and even a different number of diners. 

This recipe for Chicken with Curried Fruit sounded really delicious, so I did just that: cooked enough for my entire family.  Unfortunately, the suggested fruit to be curried was peaches and peaches aren't in season at the moment.  So I went with a can of cling peaches instead.  Feel free to substitute with pears, pineapples or apricots--frozen, canned or fresh.

Chicken with Curried Fruit

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp curry powder, or to taste
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 peaches at room temperature, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

1.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the water, stir in the curry powder, and heat until bubbly.

2.  Add the chicken and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through, 8 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, combine the orange juice and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

3.  Remove the chicken from the pan; place in a bowl and cover to keep warm.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the peach wedges and orange juice mixture to the skillet; stir until the fruit is lightly cooked and the sauce buhbly, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the chicken and heat for 1 minute.  Taste; adjust the seasonings.

The Verdict:  Not bad.  Easy, flavorful.  But not nearly as good as Indian take away.

To be honest, I was surprised how the curry sauce was prepared.  Not that there's a better way to do it; I've just never made it before and was slightly surprised when I read that you first add oil, then add water.  But it works!  You suddenly have a skillet full of fragrant sauce.  And let me tell you, fragrant might be an understatement.  Our house smelled like curry for days afterward and if I were to rate recipes on a scale of one to five stars, it would definitely lose one for that factor. 

I also think I would wait for fresh fruit to be in season.  The cling peaches were a little blah.  Or I would have at least used frozen. 

I will say that it's very quick to prepare and is a fairly healthy meal.  And it's not bad alongside brown rice.  I apologize that this one doesn't have a picture to accompany it.  It was a night of everyone being tired and hungry, so the priority was food on the table.  All in all, it was good but not the best chicken dish I've done.  But again, I might try it with seasonal fruit.  And maybe some onion bhajis on the side, you know, to negate all the healthy aspects of the recipe.

Teriyaki Beef with Noodles

I was flipping through The New York Times Cookbook, looking for something new.  I don't know how new it is, exactly, but I stopped on a dime when I saw the recipe for teriyaki beef.  When I was single, I ate Chinese take away at least once a week.  My husband isn't very fond of Chinese food, so these days it's a treat to have it.  I prayed that this teriyaki would be just as good as what comes in the little white take out box.

I was going to serve it with brown rice, but last weekend, I made an impromptu stop into H-Mart. If you aren't familiar with H-Mart, it's a chain of Asian grocery stores here in the U.S.  Very few states and cities have them and we happen to be one of the lucky ones.  The store is humongous, with a produce section that's at least twice the size of a regular market.  An entire wall makes up the fresh fish section.  And then there's just the Asian groceries.  Every noodle known to mankind is available, which is what I picked up: fresh, thick Chinese noodles.  If you don't have these noodles available to you, I think a fresh pasta noodle (think Buitoni) would be OK.  However, you might lose some of the starch which is very important to the dish.  When cooked with other liquids, it creates a wonderful, thick broth.

Teriyaki Beef with Noodles

2 lbs (1/4" thick) sirloin steak
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup light soy sauce, divided
3/4 cup sherry, divided
1 package fresh Chinese noodles
1 package (12-oz) package sliced white mushrooms
1/4 lb pea pods
2 cups low-sodium beef broth

1.  Cut the steak into thin slices or strips.

2.  Combine the ginger, garlic, onion, sugar, 1 cup of the soy sauce and 1/2 cup sherry and pour mixture over the meat.  Let stand for 1 to 2 hours.

3.  Turn broiler on high and allow time to heat up.  Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the beef broth, the rest of the soy sauce and the rest of the sherry and bring to a boil.  Add the mushrooms and peapods and let cook for approximately 4 minutes. 

4.  Add noodles to broth and vegetables and cook for time expressed on the the package.

5.  After adding noodles to the broth, place meat under the broiler for approximately 2 minutes per side.  Remove from heat.  Serve teriyaki with the noodles hot.

The Verdict:  Not only was the teriyaki as good as what you'd get from Chinese takeout, the noodles were a surprising hit!  I kind of winged the recipe, hoping my son would enjoy them, and it ended up that we all liked them a lot.

The teriyaki can also be grilled and it might even be better that way.  But since we have an enormous amount of snow outside and can barely find our cars, nevermind the grill, we'll be using the broiler.  But however you cook it, the meat has a wonderful flavor.

The gluten in the noodles, like I mention above, creates a lovely, thick beef broth that coats the noodles.  Beware, however, that noodles this glutenous do not make good leftovers.  They begin to break down, creating a slugdy mess.  My son still liked them, but the texture absolutely grossed me out. 

I started the meal with edamame in the shells, sprinkled liberally with salt.  It was fun to peel the beans out of their shells before eating our main course.  It felt like a good night out at a restaurant, minus a tip, a scorpion bowl and fortune cookies.

Chicken in Lettuce Cups

It was Thanksgiving here in the U.S. yesterday, which meant for this American I could be thankful for not having to cook. My aunt, with the help of my uncle, roasted a giant turkey for ten of us. It came out beautifully brown and incredibly moist. Add to that lots of fall sides like mashed turnip and succulent stuffing, it was a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

But before the holiday, we here at our house tried a new recipe that first appeared in Good Housekeeping: Chicken in Lettuce Cups. It's a simple stir fry served in large leaves of Boston lettuce. My ingredient amounts differ slightly from the original recipe.

Chicken in Lettuce Cups

3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 1/4 lbs chicken tenders, cut into 1/4-inch chunks

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

2 medium stalks celery, chopped

12 large Boston lettuce leaves

1. In cup, combine soy sauce, ginger and honey. Set aside.

2. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat sesame oil on medium for 1 minute. Add chicken chunks and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add edamame to chicken in skillet; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in celery; cook 3 minutes longer. Add soy sauce mixture; cook 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked through; stirring occasionally to coat chicken in sauce.

4. Arrange lettuce leaves on dinner plates. Divide chicken mixture among lettuce leaves, about 1/4 cup per leaf. Fold leaves over chicken mixture and eat out of hand.

The Verdict: Fun, delicious and easy!

My husband and I both liked the taste of this simple stir fry and loved the idea of wrapping the chicken around a lettuce leaf. My son's hand were too small to successfully eat the stir-fry wrapped in the lettuce and I don't think he was into the idea of eating a big green leaf anyway. No matter, the stir fry itself had lots of edamame and celery, giving him plenty of vegetables.

I didn't bother to divide the lettuce leaves among our plates. Instead, I just brought a plate of lettuce and the stir-fry in a bowl and served it family style.

This was much better than Chinese take out!

Mu Shu Chicken Patties with Seared Napa Cabbage

I have been eyeing this recipe for about a year. I put it into my personal cookbook with the intention to cook it nearly every time I open up the document. For whatever reason, this recipe or that trumps it and it goes back to the pile, lonely and untouched. There are no unique ingredients (unless you can't read, which I'll get to later) and nothing about the method of cooking that would make it get continually ignored. But it finally had its day in the Kinayman kitchen.

Mu Shu Chicken Patties with Seared Napa Cabbage

2 pounds ground chicken
4 scallions, finely chopped
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
and grated or finely chopped (or 1 tbsp Ginger People grated ginger)
3 tbsp tamari sauce
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp grill seasoning, such as McCormick Grill Mates
Montreal Steak Seasoning
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small Napa cabbage, shredded
Salt
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Hoisen sauce, to pass around the table

1. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken with the scallions, ginger, tamari, garlic and grill seasoning. Form into small patties. (I ended up with 13.) In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high to high heat until smoking. Add the patties and cook until well done, about 5 minutes on each side; transfer to a plate.

2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat to smoking, then add the cabbage and stir-fry until wilted. Season with salt and add the sesame seeds. Pile the cabbage on plates and serve with 2 chicken patties per person. Pass the hoisen sauce around the table.


The Verdict: Very good, but because I waited too long to finally make this, I'd built it up in my head to be amazing. It wasn't amazing, but everyone enjoyed it.

Things to remember about this recipe: First, tamari sauce is a fancy name for soy sauce. I read it quickly and thought it said "tahini." So I'm tooling around Whole Foods, unable to find tahini, knowing full-well that of all the places to shop, they're going to have it. And that when I did find it, I was going to cry because it costs $8 a can when I only needed 3 tablespoons. Finally, I stopped looking for it and decided I'd just use almond butter. And imagine my surprise when I realized these weren't Middle Eastern Mu Shu Patties. Duh.

Secondly, when there's smoke, there's not necessarily fire but your smoke alarms don't know this. My oven vent sucks, so in my concentration I didn't realize the thick blanket of cooking smoke I'd produced. Half-way through cooking dinner, I was opening every window in our house, doing the newspaper sweeping dance. Do yourself a favor and turn your vent on right away and open a window. Or take "medium-high to high heat" with a grain of salt.

Overall, it was enjoyed and I'll be making it again.

Instant Teriyaki Chicken and Vegetable Brown Rice

In the most recent issue of Prevention magazine there's an article with short suggestions on how to create less stress and more happiness in your life. One of the tips was to have a tried-and-true quick and easy meal in your arsenal. Keep the ingredients on hand and be able to create it in a short amount of time. I'll bet they'd be pretty excited to know that one of my go-to meals is from their very own magazine.

The recipe is a 5-ingredient Instant Teriyaki Chicken. Most people have the ingredients in their cupboards right now. To go with it, I made Fried Vegetable Brown Rice, which is more than likely also ingredients you have in your kitchen, too.

Chinese food is one of my favorites. I'd get Chinese take out at least once a week, but unfortunately, my husband is not a big fan. It's not so much the food itself but the restaurants. The majority of Chinese places are what he calls a "sticky" restaurant. You know when you go into a small place that fries a lot of its food? Years of grease accumulation starts to find it's way onto the tables, chairs and walls. It's not full-0n dirty; the place won't get shut down by the Board of Health. But it's never going to get a Michelin star, either. That's a sticky place and my husband is not a fan. So to make decent take out at home, which is also much healthier, is right up my alley.


Instant Teriyaki Chicken


2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp tomato paste

4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)


1. Heat the oven broiler to high. Put soy sauce, honey and tomato paste in medium bowl and stir together.

2. Add chicken and turn to coat all surfaces.

3. Put chicken in an ovenproof pan under the broiler.

4. Cook chicken until well browned, about 10 minutes. Flip and brown the second side until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using).
A nice part of this recipe is that you can get your toddler in on the action. Instead of putting the chicken into the sauce, I put the sauce on the chicken with a pastry brush. Amir really loves this job. In addition, I put the sesame seeds on before I cook the chicken which is another fun toddler cooking opportunity.

Another option is to use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. This recipe turned me onto chicken thighs in general. Who knew that a cut of chicken could be so cheap and tasty? This is especially advantageous when buying organic and free range chicken, which is pricier than regular chicken--but in my opinion, worth the extra money.


Vegetable Fried Brown Rice

4 cups cooked, cold brown rice
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 eggs, beaten
5 tbsp soy sauce

1. Place a wok over medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Cook onion and carrots until slightly browned, around 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, thaw peas. Drain and set aside.

2. Add the second tablespoon of oil then the two beaten eggs. Cook through and remove from heat; chopping the egg into rough bits.

3. Add the final tablespoon of oil into the wok and add the rice. Stir-fry for about two minutes, adding the soy sauce. Add more or less, depending on your taste.

4. Return all ingredients to the wok. Stir together and serve immediately.

The key to good fried rice is using old rice. Sounds weird, but make sure that you cooked the rice a day in advance. It's even OK to use rice that is two or three days old. Great recipe for leftover rice; it's also good if you're cooking rice for one dish to make extra to make this one later in the week. With four cups of rice, it makes quite a few main dish portions. As a side, you've got plenty for lunch for the days to come.

The Verdict: Loved it. Everyone cleaned their plate.